UK self employment rises to the highest level in 40 years

The latest figures released by Office for National Statistics (ONS) on self-employment shows that self-employment in the UK is at its highest level in 4 decades, with the number of people opting for self-employment up by 6.6% compared to last year.

What the ONS figures show is that almost 15% of the total UK workforce is made up of contractors, freelancers or self-employed individuals. The latest trend suggests that more and more young people are choosing their career as freelancers and contractors with the number of women in self-employment up by nearly 8.6% this year.

Experts have pointed out that an increase in self-employed people has contributed to the decline in unemployment rates which suggests that there are fewer new jobs created across UK and thus forcing people to start on their own. However, all is not rosy when it comes to income as it has fallen by 22% since 2008/09 for the self-employed.

According to IPSE, self-employment contributes £95billion each year to the UK economy and with rising rates of self-employed, this contribution is set to increase. Notably, there are 237,000 more managers, directors and senior officials than in 2009 with 167,000 construction workers, 166,000 taxi drivers or chauffers and 144,000 carpenters included among the numbers.